Chapter Summaries

Du Yu met Cui Jue and the other new Misfits, then went to investigate an old woman whose son had supposedly been eaten by a tiger. He discovered that she was hiding something, but left without learning why she had concealed her son’s death.

• Cui Jue welcomed Du Yu and the two other Misfits to Qi County and told Constable Li to lead them on duty starting the next day.
• Du Yu encouraged the nervous Xiao Qi, then followed her directions to the old woman’s home outside Qi County.
• The old woman denied that her son was dead and claimed he had gone up the mountain seeking immortals.
• Du Yu questioned the old woman about her meal and the chicken bones, noting that she had been hunting despite her son’s long absence.
• Du Yu suspected the old woman was concealing something about her son, but ended the visit and left as it grew dark.

Du Yu investigated the old woman’s suspicious behavior and went to Cloud Dream Mountain to find the Fierce Tiger. He discovered the tiger was an intelligent creature studying Guiguzi’s writings in a hidden grotto, and began questioning it.

• Du Yu listed the old woman’s suspicious behavior and decided to seek out the Fierce Tiger before reporting to Cui Jue.
• Du Yu searched Cloud Dream Mountain with Xiao Qi’s map, while Zhongli Chun recalled her memories of the mountain and guided him to a hidden grotto.
• Du Yu entered the grotto and found the Fierce Tiger speaking and studying by candlelight; Xiao Qi explained that it was cultivating into a demon.
• The Fierce Tiger warned Du Yu to leave, but Du Yu sat beside it and recognized the writings on the cave walls as Guiguzi’s works.
• Du Yu learned that the Fierce Tiger struggled to understand the profound texts and suggested it begin with simpler books.

Du Yu taught Fierce Tiger about demon cultivation and promised him a way to live among humans with the girl he cared about. In the Underworld, Lady Houtu asked Dong Qianqiu which side the Legend Management Bureau would support in an impending war, revealing that the Great Emperor of Fengdu had been wounded in an assassination attempt.

• Du Yu explained demon cultivation and the transformation tribulation to Fierce Tiger, who admitted he had eaten the old woman's son but would not explain why.
• Fierce Tiger told Du Yu that he had promised the girl not to reveal the reason, and Du Yu offered a plan for him to live openly among humans by confessing to the killing.
• Du Yu left Fierce Tiger on Cloud Dream Mountain, where the tiger wondered whether he could really live with the girl.
• Lady Houtu argued with Chi Ghost and Mei Ghost before telling Dong Qianqiu that the Underworld was in danger.
• Lady Houtu asked which side the Legend Management Bureau would take if the Northern Yin Great Emperor of Fengdu and the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai went to war.
• Lady Houtu revealed that the conflict was real and that the Great Emperor of Fengdu had been wounded seven days earlier in an assassination attempt by the King of the Wheel.

Dong Qianqiu learned that the King of the Wheel had tried to assassinate the Northern Yin Great Emperor on the Eastern Peak Great Emperor’s orders, bringing the Underworld to the brink of war. Meanwhile, Du Yu’s attempt to advance a legend led him to discover that the old woman had a painful history with the fierce tiger Sihuang, and he promised to protect it.

• Lady Houtu told Dong Qianqiu that the King of the Wheel had attempted to assassinate the Northern Yin Great Emperor, and Wraith confirmed that the Eastern Peak Great Emperor had ordered it.
• Dong Qianqiu said the Legend Management Bureau would not take sides, but Du Yu might support Cui Jue, Fan Wujiao, and Xie Bi'an because of his personal bonds.
• Du Yu told Cui Jue about the fierce tiger and the old woman, then grew uneasy and went to visit her again.
• The old woman attacked Du Yu after learning he had reported the matter, and Constable Li arrived with orders to execute the fierce tiger.
• Li Neng recognized the old woman as someone who had reported a case three years earlier, and Du Yu promised her he would not let the officers kill Sihuang.

Du Yu stopped Constable Li and the two Misfits from killing the tiger demon by using Xiao Qi’s image-transmission ability to blind them with a red screen. After they agreed to report back to Cui Jue, Du Yu treated the tiger’s wound and decided to take him to see his girl.

• Du Yu followed Constable Li and the two Misfits into the mountains, hoping to keep them from finding the tiger, but Constable Li lured it out by calling for Sihuang.
• The tiger emerged and was wounded by an arrow, but Du Yu stopped it from attacking the men and asked Constable Li to let him take it to Cui Jue.
• Du Yu fought the three men while Xiao Qi colored a red image, then used her transmitted picture to blind them and defeat them with the Red Seven Art.
• Constable Li agreed to report back to Cui Jue and left with the two Misfits, while Du Yu bandaged the tiger’s wound.
• Du Yu asked the tiger to tell him about its past and its girl, and agreed to take it to see her; Xiao Qi wondered whether he knew who she was.

Du Yu reunited the old woman with Sihuang, then asked her to explain their past and the fate of her son, Mengshan. She began recounting how Sihuang saved her as a girl and later became her only companion, before hinting at a terrible event from three years earlier.

• Du Yu brought the wounded Sihuang to the cottage, where the old woman embraced the tiger and wept with it.
• The old woman told Du Yu that Zheng Liu had abducted her as a child and that she had freed the tiger cub Sihuang from him during a snowy winter.
• After Zheng Liu vanished while pursuing Sihuang, the tiger brought the starving girl game and later left an abandoned infant at her door.
• The old woman raised the infant, Mengshan, but he grew cruel, injured her, and tormented Sihuang.
• Sihuang learned to speak and became the old woman's companion, while she grew estranged from Mengshan.
• The old woman began describing an event from three years earlier that still made her tremble.

After Mengshan tried to kill Yatou and abandoned her in a pit, she survived with Sihuang’s help and took her son to court, where Mengshan convinced Cui Jue that she was delusional. Yatou protected Sihuang from the county’s hunters, then endured three years of starvation and fear under Mengshan’s abuse.

• Sihuang fell into a pit of bamboo stakes, and Yatou jumped beneath him so he could escape, dislocating her shoulders in the process.
• Mengshan refused to rescue Yatou and left her in the pit, but Sihuang returned the next day with a rope and pulled her out.
• Yatou accused Mengshan of attempted murder before Cui Jue, but Mengshan claimed she was mad and had mistaken Sihuang for her son.
• Constable Li examined Yatou’s injuries, yet Cui Jue accepted Mengshan’s story and ordered men to hunt Sihuang.
• Yatou secretly warned Sihuang to hide from the hunters and stop visiting her, then returned home and hid scissors beneath her pillow.
• Mengshan cut off Yatou’s food, and she survived by eating unknown plants while enduring three years of fear and hunger.

The old woman recounted how Sihuang killed Mengshan while saving her from being murdered, and Du Yu resolved to seek justice for them. He confronted Cui Jue and challenged his judgment of the case, leaving the judge shaken by the evidence he had ignored.

• Mengshan attacked the old woman when she tried to kill him, but Sihuang burst in and killed him while protecting her.
• Du Yu heard the old woman's account, examined her injuries, and decided to demand justice from Cui Jue.
• Du Yu brought the old woman and Sihuang to Cui Jue's residence, struck Cui Jue, and stopped Li Neng from intervening.
• Du Yu showed that Sihuang would not attack him even when he was bleeding, then challenged Cui Jue for never investigating the old woman's injuries or Mengshan's circumstances.
• Cui Jue's mother questioned whether her son had kept his promise to be a good official, and Cui Jue began to doubt his judgment.

Du Yu helped reopen the old case against the tiger, and Cui Jue cleared Sihuang and made him the old woman’s adopted son. Lady Houtu descended to appoint Cui Jue as an Underworld Enforcer, then unexpectedly offered Du Yu the same role, which he refused as an Outside-System Immortal.

• Cui Jue reopened the case and convened a trial, where the old woman recounted Mengshan’s abuse and showed her scars.
• The old woman demonstrated that Sihuang understood people, and Cui Jue ruled that the tiger had acted to protect her and would not be punished.
• Du Yu suggested that Cui Jue make Sihuang the old woman’s adopted son, and she gratefully accepted.
• Lady Houtu descended, praised the trial, and announced that Cui Jue would join the celestial roster as leader of the Underworld Enforcers.
• Lady Houtu offered Du Yu a place among the Underworld Enforcers, but Du Yu declined and identified himself as an Outside-System Immortal.

Lady Houtu froze everyone in the county office and asked Du Yu to explain his identity and the future of the Underworld. After Du Yu helped her redirect the recruitment toward Cui Jue, Cui Jue unexpectedly refused her offer to become Civil Judge.

• Lady Houtu used her Immobilizing Spell on everyone except Du Yu, then learned he came from a thousand years in the future to ensure Cui Jue became Civil Judge.
• Lady Houtu tried to make Du Yu name the Eight Great Underworld Enforcers, but he refused and instead listed their eight official roles for her notebook.
• Lady Houtu and Du Yu planned to make it appear that she had invited Cui Jue to serve as Civil Judge all along.
• Lady Houtu released the frozen townsfolk and offered Cui Jue the Civil Judge post, but Cui Jue solemnly declined.

Du Yu helped Cui Jue understand that his reluctance to become an Underworld Enforcer came from worrying about his mother, then urged him to ask what she wanted. His mother encouraged him to accept the role and serve as a Judge of the Underworld, and Cui Jue’s unformed knot in his heart came undone.

• Lady Houtu granted Cui Jue until that night to decide whether to become an Underworld Enforcer after Du Yu relayed his request for more time.
• After the mortals departed, Du Yu told Cui Jue he had come from over a thousand years in the future and had been entrusted with helping untie his knot in the heart.
• Cui Jue revealed that his late wife was not the person he could not let go of; he feared leaving his elderly mother without care.
• Du Yu advised Cui Jue to ask his mother what she wanted instead of deciding for her, and Cui Jue went to speak with her.
• Cui Jue’s mother urged him to become a Judge of the Underworld and uphold justice, explaining that this would be the greatest filial devotion he could offer her.
• Cui Jue bowed to his mother as he realized her wishes and the knot in his heart came undone.

Cui Jue accepted Lady Houtu’s invitation to become Judge of the Underworld, but a mysterious voice transmission made Du Yu suspect that she intended to assassinate the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai. Back at the Legend Management Bureau, Du Yu shattered the jade pendant to force Lady Houtu to reveal herself, and a woman in green appeared from its remains.

• Lady Houtu asked Du Yu to test whether Cui Jue would agree to assassinate the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai, and Cui Jue said he could not answer without knowing the circumstances.
• Lady Houtu arrived and was unaware of the earlier voice transmission, leaving Du Yu to suspect that his contact had been a different version of her.
• Du Yu returned to the Legend Management Bureau with the jade pendant and concluded that Lady Houtu was screening the Eight Great Underworld Enforcers for a secret plan.
• Du Yu learned that the director had ordered Xiao Qi to prepare the Black and White Impermanence legend, then decided he needed to confront Lady Houtu before proceeding.
• Du Yu repeatedly struck the jade pendant until it shattered, and a woman in green emerged from its remains and asked why he had hit her.

Du Yu brought Yingning, whose soul would disperse without a new vessel, to the Underworld in search of a way to preserve her. At Strange Tales Studio, the old shopkeeper recognized her laughter and read a story called “Yingning,” leaving her identity in question.

• Yingning told Du Yu that the shattered jade pendant had sheltered her soul and that she might disperse within two days.
• Du Yu called Xie Bi'an, who suggested Yingning was a vengeful spirit and directed him to a specialty shop on Stone of Three Lives Pedestrian Street.
• Du Yu asked Fan Xiaoguo to drive him and Yingning to the Ghost Gate, and she reluctantly brought them there before leaving.
• Du Yu and Yingning searched the Underworld for over an hour, laughing Yingning along the way, before finding Strange Tales Studio in an alley.
• The shopkeeper demanded a story in exchange for a vessel, then recognized Yingning and read a tale about a laughing woman named Yingning.

Yingning corrected the old man's version of her story, revealing how Wang Sheng betrayed and killed her before she became a vengeful spirit. The old man accepted that his account was wrong and let Du Yu choose vessels for free, while Du Yu wondered how famous Yingning's story had become.

• Du Yu asked the old man to show them vessels for vengeful spirits, but the old man demanded a story in exchange.
• Yingning retold her life with Wang Sheng, describing how his family blamed her for a neighbor's assault and how Wang Sheng divorced and poisoned her.
• Yingning explained that she had not lost her smile but her life, and that she stayed in her jade pendant until Wang Sheng discarded it.
• Yingning told the old man that Wang Sheng later lost his fortune after his new wife ran off with the steward.
• The old man recognized Yingning, admitted he had recorded her story incorrectly, and offered Du Yu any vessels in the shop as compensation.
• Du Yu asked whether Yingning was famous because everyone in the world was reading her story.

Du Yu and Elder Pu tried to find a vessel strong enough to contain Yingning, but she shattered each one they tested. Xie Bi'an arrived and identified Elder Pu’s writing brush, imbued with the resentment of the ghost stories he had recorded, as their last hope.

• Yingning entered a sachet at Du Yu’s suggestion, but it exploded when her resentment proved too powerful.
• Elder Pu offered Du Shiniang’s Treasure Chest, but it also burst apart after Yingning entered it.
• Elder Pu brought out several famous objects of resentment, and Du Yu called Xie Bi'an for help before they risked testing them.
• Xie Bi'an examined Yingning and the objects, then said none could contain her alone, though all together might work.
• Xie Bi'an pointed to Elder Pu’s writing brush as a possible vessel, explaining that it had absorbed resentment from the ghost stories he recorded.

Du Yu and Xie Bi'an discovered that Yingning could enter legends, making her a potential Operator and a target for rival factions. As they discussed the danger, Chi Ghost arrived with Lady Houtu’s order for Xie Bi'an to prepare for an important mission.

• Xie Bi'an explained that resentment had gathered in Old Pu’s writing brush, and Yingning entered it, transforming it into a high-grade magical artifact.
• Du Yu told Xie Bi'an that Yingning had followed him into a legend, and Xie Bi'an suspected she could become an Operator like Du Yu and Zhan Qisheng.
• Xie Bi'an warned Du Yu to keep Yingning’s ability secret because a faction could seize her and kill Du Yu to gain control over the world’s only Operator.
• Yingning confirmed that Lady Houtu had given her the jade pendant, and Xie Bi'an said he could not locate Lady Houtu unless she revealed herself.
• Chi Ghost appeared and ordered Xie Bi'an to return to his cave, gather his protective treasures, and join the Underworld Enforcers on Lady Houtu’s mission.

Du Yu rushed to Mount Unreturning to stop Lady Houtu from carrying out a plan that could destroy the Underworld, but when he finally found her, she did not remember him. The chapter ended with Wraith holding Dong Qianqiu hostage and Du Yu trying to understand why Lady Houtu had forgotten their past.

• Du Yu warned Xie Bi'an not to go to Lady Houtu, but Xie Bi'an left with Chi Ghost, so Du Yu persuaded Yingning to help him find her.
• Yingning directed Du Yu to Lady Houtu's hidden cave on Mount Unreturning, and Mei Ghost guided him through the mountain's deadly Defensive Formations.
• Du Yu found Lady Houtu feasting with Dong Qianqiu and Wraith, who held a Bone Blade to Dong Qianqiu's neck when he recognized Du Yu as the new Operator.
• Du Yu reminded Lady Houtu of their meeting in Cui Jue's legend, but she could not remember him, leaving him baffled by her apparent inability to recall their shared history.

Du Yu tried to stop Lady Houtu from carrying out a retaliatory assassination, but learned that the Underworld’s crisis involved a hidden conflict with the Heavenly Court. Dong Qianqiu revealed that the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai was once the Haotian God, and Du Yu realized his goal was to unite the Underworld and challenge the Heavenly Court.

• Lady Houtu admitted that she had sent the Seventh Master to assassinate the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai after deciding Du Yu was not on her side.
• Du Yu questioned the accusation against the Eastern Peak Great Emperor and urged Lady Houtu to learn his motive before acting.
• Lady Houtu said Wraith had devised the plan and revealed that the Eastern Peak Great Emperor had a motive known to only a few powerful figures in the Immortal Realm.
• Dong Qianqiu connected the secret to the former Haotian God, whom mortals called the Jade Emperor.
• Dong Qianqiu revealed that the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai was the former Haotian God, and Du Yu concluded he wanted to unite the Underworld and challenge the Heavenly Court.

Du Yu offered to handle Lady Houtu’s dilemma over the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai and learned that her agents had been sent to gauge his attitude. Chi Ghost returned after provoking the emperor, but his report showed that the supposed test had amounted to an assassination attempt.

• Du Yu asked Lady Houtu to let him meet the emperors and privately offered to take the problem off her hands.
• Lady Houtu explained that the Eight Great Underworld Enforcers had been sent to provoke the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai and assess his attitude.
• Yingning emerged from Du Yu’s Green Writing Brush and told Lady Houtu that the Northern Emperor had found her a suitable vessel.
• Chi Ghost reported that he had angered the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai but had not assessed his attitude.
• Chi Ghost revealed that he had blasted the emperor with a spell and knocked out Zhao Wenhe, prompting Du Yu to call it an assassination attempt.

After Chi Ghost’s attack on the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai triggered a counterattack, Du Yu tried to keep Lady Houtu’s side from escalating the conflict. Before he could ask the Eastern Emperor why he had targeted North..., the Ten Courts of Yama and Zhong Kui arrived and attacked, leaving the Eastern Emperor confronting Zhong Kui.

• Chi Ghost told Du Yu that he had ordered the seven Underworld Enforcers to attack and flee, and Little Wraith reported that the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai had brought the Five Directions Ghost Emperors to attack.
• Du Yu stopped Lady Houtu from confronting the Eastern Emperor and went outside, where he discovered that the Eastern Emperor had arrived with ten Ghost Emperors.
• The Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai questioned Du Yu and Dong Qianqiu about the attack, while Shentu grabbed Du Yu and Zhongli Chun’s power revealed his strong ghost aura.
• Dong Qianqiu showed the Eastern Emperor her Underworld Constable Token, and Du Yu began to explain that the attack was a misunderstanding before trying to ask why the Eastern Emperor had targeted North....
• The Ten Courts of Yama, except the King of the Wheel, and Second Master Zhong Kui suddenly arrived and attacked the Eastern Emperor, prompting Zhong Kui to accuse him of lacking kindness and righteousness.